(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to suspended panel ceilings, and more particularly to a wall molding that supports the ends of the beams that abut the walls surrounding such ceilings.
(2) The Prior Art
The prior art includes suspended panel ceilings of a general construction and such suspended ceilings that also conform to seismic requirements.
a. Suspended Panel Ceilings of a General Construction
Panel suspended ceilings use spaced beams to support panels on flanges of the beams. The beams are rollformed from a strip of steel into an inverted T cross section with a bulb at the top, a web, and flanges extending horizontally from the bottom of the web. Generally, a bottom cover or cap extends over the bottom of the flanges, and then upward and inwardly along the edges of the flanges to form hems that secure the cap to the flanges. Main and cross beams are generally interconnected to form a grid having rectangular 2′×2′ or 2′×4′ openings for the panels. The beams are usually suspended with hanger wires embedded in a structural ceiling. The ends of the beams that abut the walls around the ceiling rest on ledges of angled wall moldings. The ledges of the wall moldings also support the panels along the walls.
At times, in short spans of ceiling of up to, for instance, 7 feet, as in the direction across a corridor, the beams that extend across the corridor may be supported only at their ends, on the ledges of the wall molding, without hanger wires. There may be 2 ft. long interconnected cross beams in a direction lengthwise of such corridor.
In prior art panel suspended ceilings that do not conform to any seismic code, there has generally been no fixed connection between the end of a beam and the ledge of the wall molding, since the beam merely rests on the ledge.
b. Such Suspended Panel Ceilings that Also Conform to Seismic Requirements
In suspended panel ceilings in the prior art that conform to seismic requirements, means are used to prevent the ends of the beams resting on the wall moldings from shaking off the molding during an earthquake, so that the panels in the ceilings do not fall.
Such means include stabilizer bars that run along the wall molding to keep the ends of the beams from shaking in a direction parallel to the wall, and perimeter clips on the beams which keep the ends of the beams from shaking off the molding in a direction away from the wall. Two-inch wide ledges on the wall moldings may also be used in accordance with seismic requirements, instead of perimeter clips, to prevent the ends of the beams resting on the wall molding from falling off the ledge, away from the wall, during a quake.